The present disclosure relates to panel control devices flexibly outputting video data and control signals to liquid crystal display devices, and more particularly to panel control devices including a plurality of types of programmable elements, controlling various liquid crystal display devices, having small circuit areas, and being suitable for system-on-chip (SoC) mounting.
In recent years, various liquid crystal display devices have been used for computer displays and digital televisions. In order to output video data and control signals to the liquid crystal display devices, the devices are generally combined with a panel control device (also referred to as a panel driving device, a panel controller, a timing controller, a T-CON, etc.). (See Japanese Patent Publication No. 2002-244629 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 2005-266593.)
This panel control device needs to output the video data and the control signals at timing exactly meeting the specification of the liquid crystal display device. If output is not made in accordance with the specification, the viewer cannot see a precise image. Therefore, the video data and the control signals cannot be directly output from a microcomputer, etc.
On the other hand, the specifications of a liquid crystal display device depend on the manufacturer and the serial number of the liquid crystal display device. The operation and specification of a panel control device need to be flexibly determined in detail in accordance with the specification of the liquid crystal display device. The specifications of liquid crystal display devices will continue to variously change so as to display beautiful images also in the future.
On the other hand, semiconductor manufacturing techniques have been significantly miniaturized, and what is called a system-on-chip (SoC) can be provided, which builds a conventional system formed by a plurality of large scale integrations (LSIs) with a single LSI. As a result, reduction in costs for parts due to reduction in the number of LSIs forming a system, reduction in the LSI mounting area, and lower power consumption of the system due to unnecessity of LSI-to-LSI signal communications are demanded by customers.
For example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2002-244629 shows a panel driving device including a microcontroller, a data converter controlled by the microcontroller, and a panel controller also controlled by the microcontroller, and teaches providing the panel driving device for driving a panel of a liquid crystal display device having various specifications.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 2005-266593 teaches including inside a display unit (i.e., a liquid crystal display device), a memory of information or a program determining the timing of a data signal line drive circuit and a scan signal line drive circuit, which drive a pixel array, and outputting the information output from the memory to a programmable logic IC which implements the function of a panel controller or a display sequencer.